Hue Jackson, Todd Haley spar over resting players on 'Hard Knocks'

One of the more enlightening behind-the-scenes looks at the 2018 Cleveland Browns from the “Hard Knocks” debut was the interaction between the coaches. Specifically, the difference of opinion between head coach Hue Jackson and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley on the subject of resting players in practice.

As shown on “Hard Knocks,” Jackson is a big proponent of injury avoidance. He talked about giving Duke Johnson a day off from heavy reps for preventative measures based on the running back’s past history of pulling muscles.

That’s when Haley, a former head coach himself and not one to hold back his opinions, chimed in.

“I have an opinion on it,” Haley interjected. “We need to get so much done. …if we live in our fears, I mean, our team has to get mentally tougher and be able to fight through the shit that we’ve got fight through. We’ve got to change this drastically and if we’ve got guys that haven’t done (expletive) sitting around doing nothing, I just don’t know how we’re going to do it.”

Jackson tries to defuse the situation,

“Well, I respect you saying that, I mean, I used to sit in the same chair.”

Haley wanted nothing to do with any sort of de-escalation and tried to fire back, but Jackson curtly cuts him off,

“Let me finish. I used to sit in the same chair you guys sit in and I used to feel the same way. I just wanted to kill ’em, okay? Until all of a sudden I sat in this chair and then they’re not there, and you don’t get them to practice, and you can’t get them through and then you don’t have them for three weeks. and I’m not living in my fears. That’s real, and I think we all can appreciate that.”

Then the coach goes Cartman and demands his underlings respect his authority,

“…at the end of the day, I get to drive this bus, and I’m going to get it the way I want it. That’s it period. That’s just how it works.”

How well Jackson can keep that sort of authority with former head coaches — and strong-willed personalities — Haley and Gregg Williams as his coordinators will be fascinating to watch play out in Cleveland in 2018. Thankfully, “Hard Knocks” will let us witness.

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